Capitol Hill Strategies

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March 24, 2017 | Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price has been mired in questions about his investments in the healthcare industry. As it turns out, some of the people helping him get grounded at the department are also prompting questions about their ties with the industry. Lance Leggitt, a lobbyist at Baker Donelson since 2006, was named…

August 9, 2016 | The lobbying industry may start arguing for its own bailout bill, given the relentless decline in reported spending for its services. The first quarter of 2016 was sluggish, the second similarly so. And with it came a pronounced dive in the number of active registered lobbyists. With 325 fewer lobbyists registered in the second quarter of…

January 26, 2016 | We’re running out of synonyms for “decline.” For years, OpenSecrets Blog has reported essentially the same headline. Washington’s influence industry appears to be contracting, and the trend continued in 2015. Overall spending dipped just slightly last year, from $3.24 billion in 2014 to $3.20 billion, but the number became the latest data point in the long, slow slide in…

May 22, 2015 | Memorial Day weekend is upon us, and that means lots of activity in the nation’s capital — including the National Memorial Day Parade. Organized by the American Veterans Center, the parade has numerous corporate sponsors. What could be more American? So it may seem a little odd that the event is also sponsored by two…

February 27, 2013 | A new analysis by Remapping Debate and the Center for Responsive Politics shows that 41 high-ranking staffers for new members of Congress came from organizations that have a lobbying presence in Washington.

January 17, 2013 | Former Rep. Steven Rothman, a member of the House Appropriations Committee and its defense subcommittee, is heading a new defense unit of a corporate law firm. He's not allowed to lobby for a eyar, but he'll help the firm's clients in their "dealings" with the federal government.

October 17, 2012 | With support from casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and a board laden with well-connected luminaries of GOP fundraising, the Republican Jewish Coalition is making a strong push to turn just enough Jews against Obama to deny him re-election.

October 1, 2012 | The company at the heart of possible voter registration fraud in Florida has worked for several state GOP committees around the nation, and so has another one tied to its owner, Nathan Sproul.

July 30, 2012 | Today's event in our ongoing Washington Influence Olympics: The high jump! Which companies have had the biggest jump in their lobbying expenditures from 2008, the year of the last summer Olympics, to 2011?

October 25, 2011 | K Street and Capitol Hill veteran Broderick Johnson is joining the re-election campaign of President Barack Obama as a senior adviser. Johnson's clients over the years have included numerous political heavy weights, such as Anheuser-Busch, AT&T, Bank of America, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, Comcast, Fannie Mae, FedEx, Ford, the GEO Group, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, Shell Oil, Time Warner and Verizon.

May 2, 2011 | In all, 43 different companies, organizations and special interest groups last year employed at least three former congressmen as registered federal lobbyists, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis indicates.

March 1, 2011 | Karl Rove was once known by his boss, President George W. Bush, as Turd Blossom, but can his new nickname be the Comeback Kid? An article in New York Magazine explains that after numerous political setbacks, scandal and an ideologically divided party the former senior adviser to Bush "has a new lease on life" mainly in due to his political committees' fund-raising and electoral success.

September 29, 2010 | In a congressional election cycle marked by continued economic strife and high unemployment, out-of-state campaign contributions are padding war chests for both incumbents and challengers across the country, according to a Center for Responsive Politics analysis of campaign finance filings.

March 16, 2010 | The Tea Party movement, conceived last year from turbulent political ether, prides itself on decentralization. But since December, Tea Party backers have taken to decidedly more traditional channels of electioneering influence ahead of federal midterm elections.

November 16, 2009 | As the United States continues digging itself out of a recession, the nation is poised to re-emerge in a dramatically altered financial climate. And after years of enjoying relatively little regulation, commercial banks, credit companies, hedge funds and securities and investment companies are facing the most extensive overhaul by the federal government since the Great Depression. Over the next seven days, Capital Eye will be following the special interest money in our "Crossing Wall Street" series as both the House and Senate tackle financial regulation.

July 6, 2009 | Washington's revolving door may fall off its hinges as lawmakers continue debating health care reform. Citing data from the Center for Responsive Politics, the Washington Post reported this morning that insurers, pharmaceutical companies, medical associations and hospitals have hired more than 350 former government staff members and retired members of Congress as part of a $1.4 million-a-day lobbying campaign.

May 11, 2009 | A number of former PMA Group lobbyists have started their own firm, Flagship Government Relations, which collected $210,000 from clients in the 1st Quarter of 2009. Here's a full list of where PMA's lobbyists have wound up so far.

March 10, 2009 | For months business groups and labor unions have been campaigning for or against the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that was introduced in Congress just today and that has spurred what will be one of the fiercest--and most expensive--debates Capitol Hill has seen in years. Capital Eye recently explored the political spending strategies both adversaries have been implementing in preparation for today's bill and provide some highlights of that report here.

February 26, 2009 | President Obama's Tuesday address to Congress was entirely about jump-starting the economy, but he didn't even hint at a looming legislative battle between business and labor that both sides say could affect how quickly the country recovers. The two longtime adversaries may have different political strategies, but both sides have already spent plenty of cash trying to persuade lawmakers to side with them.

January 15, 2009 | Within the next few months, it will become increasingly clear how the federal government intends to tackle pressing issues, including the economy, health care reform and curbing global warming. Those efforts, led by a Democratic president and an expanded Democratic majority in Congress, might look drastically different from those of the last eight years under Republican President Bush. What won't change, however, are the attempts by special interests to influence legislation. Capital Eye looks at which industries are spending money to shape the economic stimulus, health care reform, energy policy and labor laws.

July 24, 2008 | The long and winding road to work has become more costly than ever before, but it's also forcing drivers to explore other ways of getting around. From bikes to buses, Americans are starting to spend more time using other modes of transportation instead of in their gas-guzzling cars. These alternative industries, which may have been largely ignored in the past, are getting a greater deal of attention from consumers at home, as well as from lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

July 3, 2008 | Considering how Americans celebrate their independence and patriotism with fireworks and sparklers, it's no surprise that our country's politicians often buy fireworks for events on the campaign trail. This is hardly a one-way street, however, as the fireworks industry invests in lawmakers through campaign contributions and lobbying efforts, as well.

May 27, 2008 | Climatologists aren't the only source of data on global warming. It turns out that disclosure reports filed with Congress show that lobbying on climate change has been heating up sharply in recent years.

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